A New Urban Sociology. Sociological Traditions in India and the North/South Debate

06/05/2009 - 15:30

6 May 2009
15.30-17.00
Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Seminar by Professor Sujata Patel, University of Pune

Venue: Bushuis Zaal Heeren 17 (Library, Kloveniersburgwal 48, 1012 CX Amsterdam)

Professor Patel will speak on two interrelated matters during this seminar. First she will examine the evolution of sociological traditions within India in the context of colonization and assess their continuation in its contemporary practices. She argues that the divisions of knowledge and power represented within the disciplines of sociology and anthropology structure the ways in which distinct traditions of sociology have evolved and continue to play a major role in defining theories, perspectives and methods of doing sociologies in the world. She asks: can these perspectives take the challenge of globalization that is reorganizing the distribution of world power, its knowledge and that of its institutions in new and seminal ways? Her answer is brief but clear: NO.

In this context she will then map out the contours of the newly emerging field of Urban Studies in India arguing for a need to evolve an interdisciplinary historical perspective that can explore the uneven and transitional character of the urban process structured by colonial capitalism. It debates with the European and North American perspectives and discusses the urban experience in India in terms of five themes and argues that these can help to constitute anew this area in India. These themes are: uneven capitalist development and its impact on urbanization; the nature of urban inequalities; the influence of globalisation on city forms and structures; the intervention of state policies and the impact of collective action, the various dimensions of urban cultures and modernities. These themes can also become the building blocks for fashioning a new urban sociology not only in India but also in the South.